Well my son Noah is leaving us tomorrow for Army Basic Training in Fort Sills OK. His mother and I have not been away from him for more than a day or 2 so this is gonna be kind a hard! I think he is ready it's just mom and dad that are not!!

He leaves out in the morning at 8am and wont be back till Christmas! Hard to believe my little boy is now fighting for our freedom...

Proud but worried dad....

RC

I'm pretty sure the day I left for bootcamp it was harder on my folks than it was on me!

Tell your boy thanks for his future service. He'll be just fine, and if boot camp is anything like it was 20 years ago when I went through he'll come out the better for it.

RC, I know you're proud, just think positive thoughts.
He'll be ok…

Go forth, young man!

RC, wait until you get to go to basic training graduation. We went to Great Lakes when our son graduated from the Navy's basic training, and we were never prouder of him.

It was the first time I ever shook his hand. It was a man greeting a man.

The Hall family wishes him the best.

Thanks everyone I apprecaite it! I have taught him the best I can now it's time to let him fly on his own..... I now know how hard this was on my parents when I left!! Ughhh...

RC

Congrats, Corey! And a huge Thank You to you, your wife, and especially Noah!

Congrats RC and tell him thanks for his service. What is he planning to do in the army?

Well his grand plan is this. Join Army Guard, working first as a Horizontal Heavy Construction Engineer. Once he gets basic done and his AIT school done then he wants to come back and go to UCA for 4 years get his degree in intelligence and then go into the Army full time as an officer.

I hope he can do it!! I told him nothing worth having is easy and you got a lot of hard work ahead of you but he can do it if he really puts his mind to it!!

And thanks everyone I will tell him you all said thanks for his service he will apprecaite that and so do I!!

RC

RC,
Congrats to you and Ms. RC, on raising a man! Remind him often, he can be anything he wants to be. He just has to work for it. Godspeed on his return.
Charlie

RC51,

Congrats and he will come out better for it.

Just a question for the others here that went to boot camp and weren't drafted. After the first day of being yelled at did you at least for a short while question your sanity for signing up? I know the thought that came to my mind was, "What the hell was I thinking?!" Of course I adapted and there are things I laugh at now. Like the time one if the drill instructors was going to send me to Leavenworth for not shaving. Never mind I had to shave twice a day to keep them happy (I was in my 20's when I went to basic).

We had one guy that said if the abuse kept up he was fleeing to Canada! LMAO!

Cecil, I'll say that there were more than a couple of times during boot camp that I questioned the decision....even though I knew it was mostly a mind game it was certainly the toughest thing I'd done up to that point.

I think back on what's happened since then and laugh...boot camp was a cakewalk compared to, oh I don't know, say divorce?

Ooooh yeah I've never been divorced but would think that would be rough. Got dumped by a girl once and it really broke me up. But it ended up the best thing that ever happened to me. I would not have met my wife if it hadn't of happened. And in retrospect the girl was quite shallow and self centered.

Funny how life works that way.

You got that right!!

It really is difficult letting people go to become who and what they want to be without being controlling, but that's what Love is!

Congratulations to your family and son!

It's also a tad difficult letting a girl go that you really Love, but you know it won't work.

Oh, by the way, Divorce would be on my cake walk list

Couldn't help but laugh. On my first morning some rude sucker tossed a metal garbage can down the middle of the open bay barracks. He was yelling a bunch of stuff. I wondered who he thought he was and if he knew who he was messing with.

I found out damn fast that he knew the answer to both questions.

Divorce a cake walk? Certainly wasn't for me.

That was back when they were able to physically hit you wasn't it? I heard about a guy the DI got so frustrated with he put him in a locker and threw it down the stairs. That wont fly these days.

It didn't fly in 1964 either. The CO told us in a big meeting to report any DI that physically struck us. He added that if we were screwing up and he kicked us in the butt, he didn't want to hear about it.

My Dad was career military so I had been raised on Army and USAF posts/bases. So, at 21 YOA, I pretty well knew the score and how to conduct myself. Other than being 4 years behind when starting a career, I have absolutely no regrets about joining. Being from Fort Worth and Muleshoe, Texas I had never met people of different backgrounds. There were Scandanavians, Italians, Cajuns, Jews, etc. I don't think I had ever even met a Catholic. It opened my eyes to a lot of things.

RC... Good luck to you and your family...I suspect that someday in the future you'll look back at these next few months with great fondness.

RC, just know that he will be thinking of you just as you will be thinking of him. Reflect on how you raised him as a boy, trust in the values and morals you taught him and sleep well at night knowing that he's being trained by the best in the world, to be the best that he can be!

Congratulations to you, your family, and Noah!

And another thank you to Noah for serving (and to you as well as it sounds like you served too).

Rest easy, RC51!

My dad was career military too. We moved so much I attended four highs schools and God knows how many schools before that. One I went to near Detroit in the early 70's had a race riot just before I got there. Yee Hah!

I feel like the character in the Jack Reacher novels when asked how long he was in the military. He says all his life. They ask how can that be. He says I was born in the military. LOL

No military service here. I'm not much on doing everything as a group, 24/7. Some things you just know you weren't cut out to do.

I've always been way too solitary, as well as too stubborn to function that way.

They have a cure for those that are too stubborn.

But, in those days it wasn't optional.

Thanks everyone, I just dropped him off this morning and shook his hand and had to walk away...... My little boy I just left him there like a lost puppy!! Man that was hard!! I know he'll be fine just not easy letting your baby go from a dad's point of view!

Ughh, not easy at all,

RC

RC, take 5 minutes to write something to him every day, either on paper or electronically, and save it. He won't be able to get what you wrote for a while, but there will come a time when he will have a lot more free time, and I think he'll appreciate reading the notes to help pass the time.

Yeah they would even break down Tony. LOL It's amazing how even the toughest guys become complient. I did meet a guy in laundry that was being shipped home for punching a DI. Now that takes some balls! Don't know why he didn't go to the stockade.

The guy next to my locker found Jesus. LOL

RC51 the best advice you can give to your son is don't volunteer for anything and just try not to stick out. My dad briefed me on that before going into basic. Unfortunately the second part didn't work as i was a decade older than all those peach fuzz kids. Other thing he told me was once I got my bed made perfectly was to sleep on the floor. He didn't tell me the DI would come in the middle of the night and exclaim, "WTF!" LOL

Oh heck Scott we got mail call every day. High point of our day.

He won't be a little boy when he comes back. First they will break him down and then they will build him up. He'll be a man when he comes back.

I dunno'.....I'm sure they have a prescribed policy for treatment of stubborn folks, but I'm gonna' stop well short of calling it a cure.

I'm not a tough guy at all. It's just not in my nature to allow someone else to think for me. I learned a long time ago that in many cases, titles, rank, official position, or advanced age should not automatically convey a greater ability to make decisions regarding my welfare than what I'm already in possession of without their input.

How do I know that I'm not more intelligent than they are? I believe some of these kinds of folks couldn't pour water out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. And I'm supposed to trust them to think for me?

That's why I knew from early on that service life wouldn't work for me, although I know there are a great many who excel at it, and enjoy it.


RC this is only my opinion, and not meant to detract from your thread or diminish what your son has set out to accomplish. He's taken a big, brave step and you have every right to be proud of him. Congrats to Noah, and all who had a hand in bringing him up.

Actually Tony I'm a lot like you. Never been into even team sports and prefer to enrich myself by being self employed vs. someone else. I'd be the last person in the world to join a commune or cult and didn't even like the Boy Scouts. I had more fun camping out and fishing on my own than ever did in th Boy Scouts.

I consider myself a spiritual person but have issues wirh organized religion. Met some real hypocrites in the church.

I hear you Cecil. My ideal philosophy is to have as much as possible under my direct control, as I believe anytime I need to ask for help places me at someone else's mercy.... and I don't like that.

I would gladly help any of my neighbors who needed a hand, but I'm not likely to ask for their assistance. Figure out a way to do it myself, and get it done. That's why I'm fond of saying that few things get accomplished without losing sweat and/or blood....because it's a lot harder when you're doing it alone. But it gets done the way I want it, and when I want it.

I won't say that this philosophy hasn't cost me, because it has. In many ways it still does. But it's who I am.

Hey no problem guys my son was not the best at team sports either at times, but he has very good leader qualities that I think will serve him well in the Army once he gets down the road a ways.


Thanks everyone for all the support it means a lot from you guys here. Pondboss and everything about it is a good thing and the people are too!!

RC

RC, I can only imagine the angst you're feeling about him heading out! My little girl is 15 and I know the day is just around the corner and I hate it. Knowing the kind of man you are, I'm sure you've prepared your son for the world and that he'll stand up and make you proud. I appreciate his willingness to defend our freedoms. God speed!

Thanks Todd!! He called me at 3:40 this morning told me this was his last call for a while and to let me know he got there ok. So it's game on now!! I told him to take it one day at a time and we been training for this for a year or so now so he is ready!

I was in the AF myself so I kinda know what he is up against, so at least I was able to prep him some! I even had a couple of training moments with him where I yelled at him as loud as I could in his face and told him don't take it personal it's just part of it. The hard part is being away from him for 2 months!! That hit me pretty hard after he hung the phone up with me last night....

Me and the misses will be ok though.....

RC

Very late to this. Be proud, RC, you raised a good one there. Thank him for his service from me!

Jeez Todd, 15 already? Time flies. Kate will be 5 this coming year. It doesn't seem that long.

RC, he'll have a LOT to talk about the next time you hear from him!!

I am late too,but please first tell NOAH thanks much for is sacrifice and service. To you as well thanks for your sacrifice and service as often the family sacrifice goes unnoticed by many. We will put him on our prayer list and hope for positive updates. As a father of two boys(men really!) I do feel some or most of what you fell from the separation. I have often bit my tongue, because I have assumed that they think about the same way as I thought when I was in my twenties. I survived and tried to do more good than bad and have been lucky enough to live to continue the struggle/blessings! My boys have both done well and have continued to enjoy life,work,family and friends. I hope the same for Noah and a quality life changing experience.

Sometimes the pain of feeling appeared loss is a blessing in that the end results are better than expected. Everyone needs to feel loss, pain, to enjoy the positives, I hope all of Noah and your travels through this change in life is positive.

Thank you for sharing your feelings here at PB and the blessing you have given us for letting us in your life. I hope your experience help another father who has gone through or will go through what you have shared.

Please let us know as Noah progresses.

I heard that one before I went to basic. I even told myself that before I got there. Still felt really personal. LOL

When did you go down to Lackland for basic? I went down there in September of 86.' No one will forget me. I was the guy that was standing in formation during a fire drill with shaving cream all over my face.

Somebody told me after 911 a lot of things changed in basic.

RC, my cousin just finished basic at Ft. Sill just a few months ago and I'm sure my uncle went through the same thing. Here's hoping for a safe trip and a good assignment on the other side!

Quick update,

Well I was at work yesterday morning talking to someone and all of a sudden my cell phone went off. I wasn't in a big hurry to get it as I was in mid sentence with this other fella and didn't want to seem rude! I finally grabbed it and looked to see who it was and I FREAKED OUT!!! I couldn't believe it was Noah! I answered right there and told the other guy sorry I HAD to take this!!

It was good to hear from my boy! He said he is doing fine and has gone through all the dumb stuff like hair cut, getting ACU's, shots, more exams and all that!! He said he is now finally going into Red Phase which is actual basic training! I think he already has a new found appreciation for home. He sure is saying he loves us a lot now!!

I sure miss him!! Can't believe I won't see him till Christmas.... Ughh... I told him to stay strong put the phone down and give him hell!! And as fast as the conversation started it was over...

I know he'll be fine it's just tough as a dad who has never been away from his boy for more then a couple of days!!! I try to stay busy and not think to much about it. I won't complain though at least I know he's coming back at Christmas! It will be the best Christmas gift I have ever gotten bar none!

RC

RC

Thanks for the update!

Some advice I heard for young men/women in various types of physical and mental training was to only focus on the next few minutes or hour, as opposed to thinking days or weeks ahead.

Only think about what is right in front of you.

Excellent advice Sunil...'one day at a time' or even 'one hour at a time' got me through a lot of rough times in the military...Basic and beyond.

Heck, come to think of it, that STILL works.

Update,

Hey everyone quick update on my son! We got a call from him on Thanksgiving day!! He is doing great and misses us all! He actually got to shoot a M4 and a M16 last week live rounds! He was excited about that! Oh and this week he said they would actually be throwing live Grenades....Flashbangs and popping smoke! Wow!! I wasn't real thrilled with him throwing a live grenade... but I get it that they need to learn how to do all that cause some of these kids might turn right around after basic and get deployed... So I just told him to make sure he LISTENS VERY WELL to what the DI is telling them!! And GET DOWN!!! Other then that it's been a fairly normal week haha! He gets to come home for a week at Christmas time which I thought was strange. Back when I was in they would have never let you out of basic to come home for Christmas but I guess they do now??? Anyway it will be nice to see him and be with him for Christmas! Gotta go for now but just thought I would share quick!

RC

Thanks and be sure to pass along all of our gratitude for his service !

Hey Eric thanks! I told him that all you all out here said thanks for his service when I talked with him on T. Day and he said wow they really said that and I told him yes they did. He was very excited that my PondBoss family knew and that they cared enough to say thanks! I appreciate you all also! It's not easy having your boy grow up and its even harder knowing at any time he could be deployed to somewhere that could be really ugly and no telling what might happen!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts,
RC

Hey RC, that's really cool you get to see your son over Christmas. And yes, tell him Thanks from Michigan!

Ditto!!!

Merry Christmas!!! Good present for you.

Quick update,

Wow I got a surprise phone call last night from Noah! We did not hear from him Sunday so just figured someone did something stupid and they couldnt call!

Anyhow he is doing and sounding great! Last week they did the 15K hike with 70lbs on his back! He said the hike wasn't to bad but it was cold and raining so that sucked! He is in OKC at Fort Sill so the weather there has not been so good.

The other good news he gave me is they did there final PT testing and he scored a 284 out of 300!! I am so proud of him. He even sounds more like a man on the phone now!! He was excited because they get to actually use a mortar tomorrow and shoot a rocket launcher!! YIKES!!! And I was afraid for him to shoot my 22!! Ha,ha! Cant wait to see him just 9 more days!

RC

That's awesome RC51...he'll be home before you know it. They grow up quick.
Charlie

Tell him we're all proud of him.

Congrats RC! Thank again to Noah, you and all that raised a young man wanting to stand and fight for all the good in this country! It is truly and deeply appreciated!

Worry is what Fathers and Grandfathers do, when it come to sons and grandsons and all children. He will do well !! And let him know he has another that is proud of him.

Thanks everyone I appreciate it!!

RC

Thanks for the update, RC. I know you are a proud papa. Have a great Christmas…

Quick update,

Hey everyone my son just text me and said they are packing up and getting ready to head out this evening to the air port. His flight is not till 730 in the morning so he will have some lay over, but we and he are excited! He is so ready to show off his uniform and everything he has done!! And tell us all the stories he has! That should be fun!! Can't wait to see him I will try and get a pic of him and myself when he gets in and I will post it!

One proud Dad!!!

RC

Good to hear, RC! Looking forward to seeing his transformation!

Ditto!

Looking forward to the pictures!!

Hey Everyone just thought I would give a quick update on my son. This last weekend he graduated from Army Basic Training in Fort Sill, OK. Wow it just seems like he went. We got to hang out with him for a while on Thursday and then Friday after graduation ceremonies. I am both very proud of him and of course somewhat scared at the same time knowing my son is NOT under my control anymore.... He is now in M.O. at Fort Leonard Wood for his AIT school. He said it's not much better there then at basic. LOL! But a little better he said so he'll take it! Here he is in this pic with his "Battle Buddy" from basic training. Noah is on the right. His buddy David and him became real good friends and plan to stay in touch. David is from Tyler Texas and had a hard time passing the running part of the PT testing but as battle buddies do Noah pushed him and finally got him under the right time he needed. They are both very HAPPY to be leaving Fort Sill!!!

Here's the young man:

Thanks Sunil,

My son told me a story that I did not know? I told him I thought it was kinda funny how your coat on your uniform is so much darker then your pants? Why 2 colors?

He said he was told that they are that way because back in the olden days a soldier would get hot riding on his horse and take his jacket off put it on the horse and sit on it. So in turn his jacket was not subject to the hot sun like his pants. Hence over time his pants would fade and the jacket would still look like new from sitting on it. I thought that was a cool story. I do not know if that is the absolute truth but that is what he told me and I have no proof otherwise. Can anyone out there confirm that?

RC

Never heard that one.

I never heard that either.

The reason for shaving heads in basic is more interesting and was started during WWI if I remember right.

Awesome! They look like someone's been yelling at them day and night. LOL

I was thinking the same thing.

RC51, congrats again on a fine young man.

Two good looking soldiers placing themselves in harm's way to protect us. God's speed.

Thanks guys when I was in it didn't seem that big of a deal, but now that my kid is in and could get deployed at any time I lose a little sleep over that! He hopes to come back after AIT and get into college in the 4 year ROTC program and become an officer! Lets hope he can stay focused and get it done! He can do it if he wants to I told him it's up to him!

RC